SHOTS…THOUGH THE LIVES OF MY SONS

Sometimes it seems like time has taken up hyper-speed in my life with my sons. Events of many years ago evoke emotion like it was yesterday.  This is one way for me to capture lots of event in their lives like a time capsule, if you will...in terms of "Shots"

Shots

The first ones ever

Those necessary evil needles

Piercing your skins

As your cries do likewise to the air

And my insides melt

With each yelp

Shot

My nerves are, that is

From utter exhaustion

Night feedings

Your energy as you move like a

Well…a Shot!

Shots

The hold-my-breath

Hope he makes it into the basket kind

Or into the net

Standing around pool tables

With little to offer

In the way of skill

Though a wealth of stadium cheers

Well inside me

Whether victory or defeat

Cheering cheering cheering you on

Shots

The low blow kind

Wasted words on me

Whose love cannot be

Diminished

With wanton ways

Slanderous sayings

Who’ll by no means be

Rejected, ejected

From you three

Shots

Fired at a local high school

How is it that I remained standing

When I lost my legs

That day

And couldn't answer your,

“Mom, what happened?”

And did not exhale until

We sat in Asian Bistro

With your appetite intact

Intellect intact

Bright, brilliant, brown eyes

Making fun of the kid

Who peed out the window

Shots

The Rite of Passage

Alcohol kind

Downed in haste

With no thought

Of disgrace

Landing flat on your ass

Falling flat on your face

Shots

Picturesque

Witty

Whimsical

Wild

Expansive

Expressive

Wow’ed by your talent

Your inspired eye

Shots

Unflinchingly

Facing the future

Dauntlessly dancing

Free

From constraint

From complacency

From expectation

I sit in the stands

Clapping madly

Though the finish line

Is nowhere in sight

Heartlines (for Al)

 I have been blessed with an amazing family: parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, cousins of cousins, nieces and nephews...you name it! Growing up, I remember our "family" was made up of so much more than those people we were connected to by bloodlines. I was in high school before I realized that my Uncle Phillip was not really my dad's brother. Didn't matter, he was still my Uncle Phillip. And so it is with my friend, Al. He's my brother...I just had to move to Maryland to find him.

 

You touch fire
My skin burns

It goes deep Brother
We’re that deep Friend
Cut me
And you'll be
Crimson stained
Unrelated
Still family

There's a boy inside
You let him out sometimes
Look to the sky Boy
Look up to the sky
Gaze at the stars
Don't you know

Heaven awaits you
To find your way home
Where there are hands to hold
Smiles to cheer
Standing together
We are family

Hommage an meine Schwester

My eldest sister, Irene, was a bit older than me when I was born.  It was so cool having a big sister who had the maturity of a parent figure but the understanding of....well... a sister.  I have countless memories with her and the life lessons she taught me. She taught me to have courage. When I was ill and needed help, I called her and said "Come". She was there in less than 24 hours.  In the maelstrom of my divorce and single parenthood she carried me. I have so many, many more instances of her compassion and dedication, but I hope these words will somehow cover all she has been and still is to us and our family.

She is June's brilliant bloom
In a garden choked by weeds
Golden and shining and proud
Only sunlight may kiss
Let showers caress
's no vessel worthy
Of holding this flower
Blossom whose beauty is power

She is California sunlight
And a Cape Cod breeze
New Awlins dahlin'
More than a peach
She's a plum
The heady Jasmine
On a still humid night
Before the rains
have begun

She's the Queen of Sheba
I reign, I rein  
(Hold it...Hold it...Hold It til It Hurts)   
Oh but her scepter is peace
And the crown that she wears
Of nobility rare
Garnered from
Loss outside grief


She is a place of solace
That bids me welcome
Without a word
She shhh's the roiling tempest
Until calamity has passed
Stilling every raucous wave
Safe harbor from all harm
Not father's face
Nor mother's embrace
But in my sister's arms

She is a balm of healing
Her prayers the Sukkah
Of our lives
Entwined with hope beneath
An arduous sheath
Moments erring or
Despairing
Comfort is only then derived
Not from lover’s touch
Nor from mere good luck
My sage sister will she rise